The All New Atom #19

The All New Atom finds Ryan Choi at his most cornered in this March 2008 issue, as José Ladrönn's cover drops the size-shifting hero into a murky underground cavern, weapon in hand and light glowing at his chest, while a ring of grotesque humanoid figures closes in from every rocky outcropping around him. The cover tag says it all — "Beware the Hunger of the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers" — and the surrounding mob of snarling, club-wielding creatures makes that warning feel entirely credible. With Champagne, Ordway, and Scott on the interior, "Down in the Dark" looks like a genuinely unsettling descent for DC's smallest hero.